Record Reviews

KAMIL ABT ~ WARIATKA BMS 198500029666 (Barcode: 198500029666) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2023 Released: 2024 This is an album by Polish / Australian Jazz guitarist Kamil AbtFind albums by this artist, recorded with vocalist Katarzyna MirowskaFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Piotr SzwecFind albums by this artist, bass guitarist Andrzej MichalakFind albums by this artist and drummer Przemek MichalakFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine tracks, all of which are songs with lyrics by Teresa Podemska-AbtFind albums by this artist (Kamil’s Mother) and composed by Ewa ParadowskaFind albums by this artist (four), Jerzy SyrekFind albums by this artist and Krzysztof GalasFind albums by this artist (two each) and finally one by Kamil Abt. The Abt family left Poland in 1981 and settled in Australia, where Kamil grew up and studied music, while his Mother pursued literary academic career and wrote poetry. Kamil returned to live in Poland in 2014, and is involved in the local Jazz scene. The album is an obvious Jazz & Poetry outing, with the songs based on Teresa’s poems and composed mostly by fellow Polish emigrants in Australia, which were performed live before getting finally a recorded version. The music is pretty standard mainstream Jazz, arranged by Kamil, who is also the primary soloist alongside Szwec. The rhythm section keeps the music swinging amicably for the entire duration. Although Jazz & Poetry is one of my favorite music forms, I was sadly left pretty cold by this album. I am not really sure why, but the chemistry between the lyrics and the music did not happen here, the melodies are pretty mundane and the vocals get very little exposure within the mostly instrumental environment, whereas they deserve to be pretty much in the very focus of the project. Mirowska has a potent voice and her vocalese parts are the highlight of the album, but they are very limited. In short the guitar and saxophone soloing overshadows the vocals, which has an adverse effect. I did enjoy reading the poetry printed on the album’s booklet, however. Overall, I was sadly somewhat disappointed by this album, despite the fact that it is a Jazz & Poetry project, but of course this is just my personal opinion, and other listeners might enjoy it very much. There is nothing actually wrong with it, I was simply not able to embrace it, which is entirely my problem.

Updated: 19/05/2024Posted: 19/05/2024

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FREEWAY QUINTET ~ THIS IS NO ORDINARY JAZZ NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2012 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz ensemble Freeway QuintetFind albums by this artist, co-founded by saxophonist Piotr SzwecFind albums by this artist and guitarist Marcin KuzdowiczFind albums by this artist. The lineup is completed by a second saxophonist Krzysztof KowalczykFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel UrowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Wojciech BulinskiFind albums by this artist. Female vocalist Paulina GolebiowskaFind albums by this artist and percussionist Konrad RoginskiFind albums by this artist appear as guest musicians on several tracks. The album presents nine original compositions, seven of which were composed by Kuzdowicz and one each by Szwec and Urowski. The music presented by the group has certainly some unusual elements, such as a double saxophone front line, rocky, often distorted guitar and melodic lines based on ethnic motifs, which altogether are closer to Jazz-Rock Fusion or Progressive Rock than to Jazz. Therefore the statement used as the album´s title is correct to some degree; but let´s not exaggerate, this music, although very nice and interesting, is definitely not revolutionary or radically different from music we all heard before. But statements aside, this is quite an excellent album in every respect. The original music is the strongest artistic statement herein, with beautifully developed melodies and rich instrumental arrangements. There is a lot of the typical Polish melancholy, which is predominant even on the more up-tempo pieces. Overall the music is simply superb from start to finish. It is also very well performed by all the musicians involved, although personally I´d prefer to hear more improvisation and soloing. But the ensemble spirit, which is very strong on this album, is also gratifying. It is certainly interesting to see where the group will take their "no ordinary Jazz" into the future. There is so much potential and possibilities here, that anything is possible. Polish Jazz / Fusion and even Prog connoisseurs should definitely keep an eye on these talented young musicians. As far as debuts go, this is definitely one of the most impressive I´ve come across this year, perhaps because it is original enough to distinguish itself from many other debuts that mostly follow up well beaten tracks. Well done!

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